Polish Red Borscht with Uszka - Barszcz Czerwony z Uszkami

What is Barszcz Czerwony z Uszkami?

Barszcz czerwony z uszkami is a clear Polish beet soup served with tiny filled dumplings called uszka. The version made for Christmas Eve is traditionally meatless and is commonly prepared with a vegetable or dried-mushroom broth, beets and a souring ingredient such as fermented beet kvass or vinegar.

The soup should be clear rather than thick. Its flavor balances the natural sweetness of beetroot with acidity, dried mushrooms and simple spices such as bay leaf, allspice and black pepper. Mushroom-filled uszka turn the clear soup into one of the most recognizable dishes of the Polish Christmas Eve table.

This recipe is vegetarian because the uszka dough contains egg. It is not vegan unless the egg is also omitted or replaced.

Barszcz did not originally mean beet soup

The history of the word barszcz reaches much further back than modern red beet soup. The Polish name originally referred to the plant known as common hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium. The Wielki słownik języka polskiego records the Polish word as early as 1419 in the meaning of the plant.

Young leaves and stems of native hogweed were once eaten and fermented in parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Early Polish herbals describe its culinary use, and fermented hogweed was used for a sour preparation that also became known as barszcz.

It is therefore too simple to describe modern beet barszcz as a recipe invented at one identifiable moment. The name survived while the ingredients and methods changed. Over time beetroot became increasingly important, and sour beet-based soups developed alongside other fermented soups prepared from grain and vegetables.

From hogweed to red beet Barszcz

Red beet borscht belongs to a later stage of this history. By the nineteenth century Polish cookbooks clearly document beet soup prepared with vegetables and beet kvass. Both meat versions and fasting versions were known.

An especially useful historical example comes from Maryja Leżajska's Praktyczna kucharka from 1897. Her barszcz uses vegetables, chopped beets, separately cooked dried mushrooms and beet kvass. For a fasting version she specifically recommends mushroom uszka. This is already recognizably close to the Christmas Eve combination prepared in Poland today.

Christmas Eve tradition

Clear red barszcz with mushroom uszka is now one of the best-known Polish Christmas Eve dishes. It is usually served near the beginning of the meal and contains no meat in keeping with the traditional meatless character of the Wigilia supper.

The tradition is widespread but not universal. Polish Christmas Eve food has always varied by region and family. Mushroom soup, fish soup and regional soups such as Silesian siemieniotka have also occupied the place that red barszcz holds in many other households.

For that reason, it is more accurate to call barszcz with uszka one of Poland's most important Christmas Eve soups rather than claim that it has always been the first course in every part of Poland.

What are Uszka?

Uszka literally means "little ears". They are small Polish dumplings formed by folding a square of thin dough into a triangle and joining the two opposite corners. Their shape resembles small tortellini, although the dough and filling belong to the Polish dumpling tradition.

Uszka can be filled with meat or mushrooms. For Christmas Eve barszcz, dried wild mushroom filling is particularly traditional. Dried porcini and other edible forest mushrooms provide a concentrated flavor that pairs naturally with the sweet-and-sour beet broth.

Ćwierczakiewiczowa explicitly describes a dried-mushroom alternative to the meat filling in her recipe for uszka served with borscht:

Making a clear beet broth

This version begins with dried mushrooms because their soaking and cooking liquid gives the meatless barszcz additional depth. Strain the mushroom liquid carefully before using it because dried wild mushrooms can contain fine sand or grit.

The beets should cook gently rather than at a violent boil. Once the beet flavor and color have developed, add vinegar near the end. Acid sharpens the flavor and helps maintain the red color. Do not keep boiling the soup aggressively after adding it.

Traditional fermented beet kvass can be used instead of some or all of the vinegar when available. A vinegar-soured barszcz remains a practical Polish home version, but beet kvass gives a more complex fermented acidity.

Making the mushroom Uszka

The original 3 g of dried mushrooms would not provide enough filling for a batch of dumplings. Around 30 g is much more realistic for this amount of dough and is consistent with modern Polish Christmas Eve recipes.

Soak and cook the mushrooms until tender, then chop them very finely. Fry the onion gently in neutral oil until soft and lightly golden before adding the mushrooms. Cook until the filling is moist but no longer watery, then let it cool completely before shaping the uszka.

Roll the dough very thinly. Small squares around 4 cm produce the characteristic bite-sized dumplings. Use only a little filling because overfilled uszka are difficult to seal and tend to open in the cooking water.